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Re: Recent User Assistance Studies on Printed Books?

The 7.5x9 book size is the standard for software distributed in
retail packaging. I suspect it is preferred by retailers because
the smaller boxes take up less space on the shelves, and not
because of any user preference or usability study. Speaking
strictly as a software user, I'd choose 8.5x11 in some sort of
*truly* lay-flat binding over a 7.5x9 paperback book any day
if anyone ever asked me, and for the majority of the products
I've documented (almost all of which have been non-retail,
industrial strength stuff), 8.5x11 or A4 is still the de facto (if
not actually mandated) size. I've yet to encounter a single
user who expressed a preference for the smaller size book.

Gene Kim-Eng

----- Original Message -----
From: "Lorraine Kiewiet" <lkiewiet -at- earthlink -dot- net>
> Today's question: Given that they think this looks good, are there any studies out there to support the more standard practices
> that we three on the doc team want to move to? Examples: for internationalization, we believe that the book should be 7.5 x 9. For
> readability, the body font should be serif, and more than 3 points of line leading are needed between paragraphs.

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